Sunday, November 14, 2010

Grady Preview & Contest, Plus Caveman Morrison & Half Past News!!

It's news time on this Sunday afternoon at the SMS! Today, we have news on a lineup change in a local band (and the concert cancellations related to that), the official announcement on a new upcoming debut album, and some more assorted stories, but first, we're going a little bit country for our top story... but not too much! You'll see, in this special concert preview!

On Tuesday night, Grady are back in Sault Ontario! The Austin based "country metal" trio will be making their first local appearance in 13 months at this show, after their last stop in October 2009 at The Canadian Nightclub, which was marred by a low mid-week attendance and that threatened boycott that we won't go into again. This time, they'll make their way to The Grand Theater, which will mark the first appearance by a metal band at that venue since (believe it or not) May 2009, when Sense of Truth played at the Skate4Cancer fundraiser there! 18 months of waiting, but the metal is back! If you don't remember, Grady play a unique blend of country/southern rock and metal, and thankfully retain enough metal that even a hardcore headbanger will enjoy them! Also make note of the fact that former Big Sugar frontman Gordie Johnson fronts Grady, so there's some real heavyweight talent in this band! Expect a great southern metal style from Grady on Tuesday night! Also to be featured are Moncton punk rockers The Motorleague, who'll bring their catchy brand of rock to The Grand on Tuesday as well! Check the above links for info on both bands!

This concert will take place at 8:30 PM on Tuesday night, and I hope the mid-week date won't scare off people again! Tickets are $15, which may seem steep, but it'll be worth it for the music you'll get! You can pick them up at LopLops Lounge (Beyond Borders at LopLops are putting this show on), or online at this location, and maybe at The Grand itself, though this isn't stated online. Age limits aren't specified, though I should note that The Grand has hosted both all ages and 19+ shows in the past, so it could be either or. Contact the organizers at the Facebook event page for clarification! This promises to be a very loud concert that will rock you into December, and I can't wait! I really enjoyed Grady's show here last year, and I guarantee I'll be there on Tuesday! The Motorleague will be worth checking out, and Grady have a great blend of country and metal in store! Check out all of the above links for more details, and for a preview, here's the music video for Grady's single "Woman Got My Devil"!



One more note concerning the Grady concert, and this is something that I really should have discussed sooner than today, but other scheduled or larger news stories pushed it back. A few days ago, SooToday (who posted their own event page for this show on the 5th) are currently running a contest for a chance to win two FREE tickets to the Grady concert on Tuesday, along with their new live CD/DVD set "Calling All My Demons", and two Grady t-shirts! Nice package, but how can you enter? Simple, just e-mail arts@sootoday.com with "Grady contest" as the subject, and answer these three questions:

1. What is Grady drummer Nina Singh's nickname?

2. What U.S. state is Grady currently based out of?

3. What Canadian city is the setting for Grady's newly released live CD/DVD package Calling All My Demons?

A winner will be announced TOMORROW NIGHT at 8:00 PM on SooToday, and the winning entry will be randomly drawn from all correct entries. You must be at the concert to claim your prizes. Enter this A.S.A.P., cause I'm sure there's some Grady fans out there who'd love this prize package! For more details, visit SooToday's article on the contest at this location, and stay tuned for the winner announcement tomorrow night! I'll see you at The Grand on Tuesday night!

Next up, here's some big news from Caveman Morrison that I first told you guys about on Thursday and Friday on our Twitter page. Firstly, their scheduled concerts for this weekend at Foggy Notions have been cancelled. This was confirmed by frontman Tym Morrison through e-mail correspondence with me. A reason for the cancellation wasn't provided, but this looks like it could be related. According to his personal Facebook page, bassist Dutch Vanderploeg has parted ways with Caveman Morrison due to "artistic differences". Dutch initially joined the band in May, replacing Rick White, and he's played with the band frequently since his live Caveman debut in August. There are additional comments there related to the situation that I won't go into too much detail on, but there you have it. Shame to see Dutch go, he's a very nice guy and a talented musician all around, but hopefully he keeps up the great work with Browbeat and his solo project that I'll have more on in the next little while! Note that Caveman Morrison's internet pages don't reflect Dutch's departure yet, but I'll keep you posted on that front!

And finally, we'll cap with some exciting news from Half Past, the Sault Ontario hard rock quartet who we haven't seen live in seven months! Wondering where they've been? Well, the band posted a new note yesterday on their official Facebook page where they announced that they are currently working on a full length album! They remarked that they haven't been able to get a lot of momentum going since their debut as Half Past last fall (their Fingerbone beginnings weren't mentioned), but hope to get this album out and some shows booked next year! That's not all though, as a preview video for the album was posted on their Facebook page as well! It's 45 seconds long, features a solid instrumental section from one of their originals, and it says that it will be self-titled and released through Half Past Studio Productions in the spring. Sounds good, hopefully this will all be worth the wait! They're a talented band, and they deserve a good audience and following locally! This will definitely be in our December "Where Are The New Albums?" update on December 2nd, so stay tuned for that, and more from Half Past as it comes in! Check out the above links for more!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for some news and updates around Tuesday hopefully, as I expect a homework loaded day tomorrow. Thanks everyone!

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